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In the first bit of solid casting news for “Guardians of the Galaxy” since Chris Pratt was revealed as James Gunn’s Star-Lord, Dave Bautista has been cast as Drax the Destroyer. A former WWE wrestler, Bautista was recently seen in “The Man With The Iron Fists” as Brass Body. “Guardians” has filled two of its slots with only three more to go: Gamora, Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

Opens August 1, 2014

IRON MAN 3

Kevin Feige spoke with About.com‘s Kids’ Movies and TV section about the upcoming film and how it plays with the stereotypical “damsel in distress.”

“We are bored by the damsel in distress,” Feige told About.com. “But, sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with ‘Is Pepper in danger or is Pepper the savior?’ over the course of this movie. In terms of where we go with future movies, we’ll see. In the comic books she does get a taste for the suit and becomes her own hero named Rescue, who doesn’t necessarily battle other people, but is on missions to help people and to save people. Will we do that down the line with Gwyneth Paltrow? Who knows. But her being in the suit is something we have been playing with since ‘Iron Man 2,’ where we did some designs and it didn’t end up fitting in that movie. But the little taste you saw here [in an ‘Iron Man 3’ clip] is something that we’re certainly interested in.”

Opens May 3

MAN OF STEEL

Comic Book Movie has posted a quote from Total Film Magazine’s interview with Michael Shannon where he discusses his take on General Zod for “Man of Steel.”

“He’s not a villain,” Shannon told Total Film. “He’s not a villain any more than any other General fighting to protect his people. He doesn’t like to just hurt people and steal diamonds; he’s focused on being successful at his job. … I think the way Terrence Stamp approached it — and this isn’t any kind if criticism of his performance — there was something kind of detached about it. Pure, hatred, rage, whatever… I think this [characterization] is more ambiguous.”

Opens June 14

STAR WARS

While not really related to the “Star Wars” movie, GeekTyrant has posted Disney’s official poster for this year’s “Star Wars” Weekend at its Walt Disney World theme park.

JURASSIC PARK 4

Deadline reports “Safety Not Guaranteed” director Colin Trevorrow has been tapped to helm “Jurassic Park 4.” Trevorrow will direct a script by “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. “Jurassic Park” director Steven Spielberg will executive produce.

Opens June 13, 2014

NINJA TURTLES

CBR’s Karl Keily spoke with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” co-creator Kevin Eastman, who teased what fans can expect from Michael Bay’s take on the franchise.

“Much like you look at what they’re doing at Nickelodeon with the new animated series, it’s all based solidly on the ‘Turtles’ foundation, but they’ve hit the reset button,” Eastman told CBR. “They’ve taken it back to the first episode, with the Turtles first time above ground after many years of training with Master Splinter. They’re making a ‘Turtles’ origin that is firmly rooted in ‘Turtles’ history, but a slight tweak here and a slight tweak there. It’s been enjoyable and the IDW series is much the same, in that it’s firmly rooted in ‘Turtles’ history, but multiple ‘Turtles’ universes.”

WHEDON ON KICKSTARTING FIREFLY

With the “Veronica Mars” Kickstarter obliterating its $2 million funding goal in less than 24 hours and closing in on $3.5 million with 28 days to go, it’s inevitable that fans would be calling for a “Firefly” fan-funded revival. Series creator Joss Whedon spoke up on the subject to Buzzfeed about the likelihood of “Firefly” getting a revival via the crowdfunding service.

“I realized the only thing that would be on everybody’s mind right now. I’ve said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case,” Whedon told Buzzfeed. “It also remains the case that I’m booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven’t even been able to get ‘Dr. Horrible 2’ off the ground because of that. So I don’t even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won’t. Couple years from now, when Nathan [Fillion]’s no longer [on] ‘Castle’ and I’m no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then. But right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.”

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